


And The Clock Kept Ticking

by dasakuryo



Series: Whumptober 2019 [5]
Category: DC Extended Universe, Teen Titans - All Media Types, Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Character Study, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Koriand'r-centric, Kory-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:48:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22150573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dasakuryo/pseuds/dasakuryo
Summary: Kory was keeping it all in —her grief for Donna, her fears about losing her powers, her worries about her sister. Just like Dick had done, she was bottling everything up, fully knowing it'd not keep the issue from eating at her. Like Dick, she knew she was carrying a ticking time-bomb, and there was no telling when a miscalculated move will have it all blowing up on her, shattering her from the inside out. //Kory tries to cope with everything that has happened recently, incidentally keeping those she cares about at arms length. She might be skilled at concealing things, but not as skilled as to make her unease go unnoticed by a certain Dick Grayson.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Koriand'r
Series: Whumptober 2019 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1507718
Comments: 73
Kudos: 89





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another belated entry for (last year's) Whumptober featuring my superhero babies, written combining the prompts Day 11 Stitches, Day 14 Tear Stained, Day 20 Trembling, and Day 29 Numb, as well as as a fill for dickkorysource's November prompt (Vulnerable) over at Tumblr. This one is for **Vanessa N Isaacs** for being a lovely reader and for their unwavering support and enthusiasm :) Hope you all enjoy the read!

Dick's stomach clenched when Kory tried, and failed miserably, to mask her groan of pain. He searched her eyes, his fingers brushing down her wrist of their own accord at her discomfort, worried whether he should wait or continue with the task at hand. Kory squirmed under his touch, her breath itching, her face contorting further. His heart lodged in his throat.

"Kory," he couldn't keep the concern from edging his voice. "Are you—" _okay_ would be a really stupid thing to suggest, so he settled for squeezing her wrist gently.

That seemed to bring her back. She blinked, letting out a heavy and yet breathy sigh, before finally looking up and locking her gaze with his. Warmth flooded through him again, though he worked his lips to keep the slight curling of his lips at bay. Even if it was a wan smile, he doubted Kory would appreciate it, given the circumstances.

"Just get this thing over with," she huffed, rolling her eyes.

He nodded, but could feel her tensing under his grasp, he caught the slight whimper trembling beneath that breathed complain. As much as he wanted to check on her, he kept his mouth shut and his worry caged in his chest. Kory wasn't in the mood for it, and the last thing he wanted to do was frustrate her further.

She hissed again when the suture needle punctured through her skin again. Dick dabbed at the trickle of blood with a clean gauze at the same time he gave a sharp brief pull to the needle, making Kory breathe out another curse, this time in Tamaran. Dick's stomach knotted again, she wasn't used to this. To this sort of physical pain, and it equally frustrated and worried him her powers hadn't returned, not to mention him not being able to find anything that may help her to gain them back.

"Xhal, I wish Rachel was here," she whispered under her breath, not making any effort at all to mask her wincing when the needle went through again.

Dick couldn't agree more.

"I am almost done," he assured her, trying to give some semblance of comfort.

"Wouldn't it be quicker if you just cauterize it or something?" she grunted, growing tense and very still when he pulled the next stitch close once again.

"It'd hurt even more," he reasoned, working quicker and methodically, hoping a more rapid pace would count for something. Kory let out a shallow breath and another curse. "Besides, this wound is deep and pretty wide, it needs some stitches," he went on, managing a shadow of a smile, trying to appease the scowl on her face.

Kory blew out a heavy sigh.

"Fine, Grayson."

* * *

It had been a difficult couple of weeks. On top of the asphyxiating grief of losing Donna, Kory had to deal with the helplessness of having to stay put. Dick kept insisting that her being their eyes and ears while the Titans were out on the field was vital for the team's safety. Kory would roll her eyes or wince whenever he brought the argument back up again, it was her powers that would help her to watch their backs and keeping them safe. But if her progress on that department served as any indicator, it seemed Kory was nowhere close to getting her powers back.

She had to be sitting ducks and, with her heart clogging her throat, watch the Titans putting their lives at risk. Her hands would itch at times, making her heart race while staring at her palms —prayers in Tamarean would spill from her lips, begging for the yellow and red golden streaks to blossom in all their intricate spidery web, glowing, and hoping the familiar empowering warmth to engulf her from within. Yet, little did her faith matter—

It all only increased her anxiety. It wasn't merely a question of getting her powers back. It was a matter of survival, of protecting those she cared about with every fiber of her being. She had no way of knowing her sister's plans, no clue whether she was, indeed, coming for her to finish what she'd started—

It kept her awake at night. Kommand'r had obliterated everything and _everyone_ she cared about in her thirst for power. And she'd not stop at Tamaran, that much Kory knew. The prospect of Kommand'r showing at their doorstep, both literally and figuratively, while she'd not got her powers back made her blood freeze. Some nights she'd wake up panting, her nightshirt damp and sticking like a second skin to her body, her throat raw as if she'd been screaming her soul out. The images of fire, ashes and dust would keep haunting her— every intake of breath would sink no air to her lungs, and the only remedy to her apprehension would be to pad her way down the hall, gently pulling doors open to every room, to watch sleeping and snoring bundles in each bed.

At times, her fingers would clasp the handle of Dick's room door a little too tightly, and she'd stare at the soft darkness, guessing the lines of him beneath the messy covers. No matter how hard her chest ached, no matter how much her palms would itch, remembering the soothing peace that washed over her when he'd shift in his sleep to nestle her body around his, she'd turn around eventually —padding back to her room, biting her lower lip.

Dick had noticed something was up. Though he tried to be surreptitious about it, Kory could see it in the soft lines of worry that creased his face when he stole glances at her. A part of her wanted to tell him about her sister, not to mention the subsequent fears and worries she entailed, but another part of her didn't want to pile this up on him. His shoulders were already carrying the aftermath of Deathstroke, his heart was still heavy from losing Donna—

She just couldn't... do that to him. Being at that crossroad, she understood the dilemma's Dick had faced, especially the past few months. If the circumstances behind it weren't so painful, the situation would be hilariously ironic —Kory wasn't following her own advice.

Besides, even if Rachel was away, Garfield, Rose, Jericho and Conner were still there. They were just _kids_ , trying to cope with the atrocities done to them by _actual adults_ , struggling and navigating through their feelings. They shouldn't have do be dealing with these emotions in the first place, so Kory wasn't going to make them worry about her own problems —which will invariably happen if they caught wind of the potential consequences of what Kommand'r had done... and what she could be up to.

Kory sighed, taking the last gulp of the chamomile tea she'd been nursing for the past half hour. The tower was silent, save for the faint lively sounds of the kids playing video games in Garfield's room. A smile curled up the corner of her mouth when, despite the distance and the closed door, she could distinctively hear Garfield's groaned complain about losing. Apparently, to Conner, who was cheating using his powers. Setting the cup to dry on the dishwasher railing, she scanned the living room, now in semi-darkness after sunset, but Dick wasn't there.

His laptop was shut close, and the case file he'd been going through for the past hour rested neatly atop it. His coffee was on the coffee table, untouched.

Typical.

Shaking her head, she made her way to the control room, a reprimand ready on her tongue about over-worrying and over-working himself to sleep. But, once again, she didn't find him where she thought he'd be at. The room was empty, illuminated by the light from the numerous monitors before her. She frowned, studying each for a moment, looking for anything suspicious on the scan results. Old habits die hard, and even if he was getting better at working himself out of them, Dick still had a long way to go —it'd not be the first time he'd go on patrol on a whim because someone somewhere _may_ be up to something, without letting anyone know about it.

Kory winced, pressing a hand to her forehead. Xhal, she really did miss her powers, especially the enhanced healing ones. Her head throbbed painfully, but neither that nor the bright light from her phone screen kept her from texting Dick. Sighing, she noticed the message had been sent, but he'd not seen it. Not yet, at least.

Not that she was expecting an immediate response from him.

Her throat tightened. With her fingers hovering over the screen, she felt the wild swirl in her stomach. She took a deep inhale and breathed it out slowly, somehow managing to pick at her lower lip again before all the air was out of her lungs.

Maybe... she could write it instead. Sending it all in a message, avoid having to pour her soul out through spoken words —not out of cowardice, but because she did not know for how long her voice will hold steady, she didn't know if the cracks of vulnerability would shake her before the first sentence was out of her mouth or not...

Just like Dick had done, she was bottling everything up, fully knowing it'd not keep the issue from eating at her.

(Like Dick, she knew she was carrying a ticking time-bomb, and there was no telling when a miscalculated move will have it all blowing up on her, shattering her from the inside out.)

She pulled open the door to her room, a sigh finding its way out of her lungs again —though it was laced with a pained whine this time. Perhaps a warm shower would do her good, maybe getting all that muscle tension to loosen may help ease the strain on her mind as well.

Yet, as soon as she flicked the lights on, her heart clogged her throat. The ticking time-bomb timer seemed to be nearing its countdown. Fully aware any wrong move could send her spiraling, Kory stood there, frozen on her spot. Every nerve in her body seemed to shrink.

Dick was sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at her. There were even more worry lines on his face than she'd seen lately, creases that did nothing but burrow deeper at her silence. She wanted to excuse herself, argue she was tired, swerve around whatever this was... yet the words got stuck somewhere between her brain and her tongue. And Dick hadn't taken her eyes off of her, watching her with that soft, intent gaze that, she knew, was perfectly concealing his trained reading eyes.

"Dick— I—" she managed eventually, though it'd have helped her case if she had not let that out in a hushed whisper.

He stood up, bridging the distance keeping them apart before Kory could conjure her anxious mind to add anything else. He searched her gaze, lips curled lightly, as if that could make her miss the concern clouding his eyes.

"Kory, I think— we need to talk," he said, his voice equally low as hers. "You're— I know something is—" he trailed off, yet there was no need for him to finish that thought. Kory filled it in with the missing words that were obvious on his frown and wheezed-breathed hesitation.

Her heart thumped in her ears. Dick was suddenly brushing his fingers along her arm.

"I can help you," her eyes were stinging, why were her eyes stinging? "We can figure this out. Together."

The bomb kept ticking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's high time I wrote something centering around my lovely girl, and the cliffhanger of last season seemed a pretty good place to start. I've noticed a slight shift in Kory's behaviour, especially considering the fact she kept her problems to herself, even going as far as not telling everyone about her powers ebbing away. All those emotions are bound up to catch up with her eventually, so I wanted to explore the scenario. It's also pretty obvious Kory and Dick are each other's tethers, so him wanting to help Kory is a given —at least for me, let's hope it is the case as well for Titans' writers next season, uh?
> 
> All that ranting aside, hope you've enjoyed the first chapter :) Feedback is always appreciated ♥


	2. Chapter 2

A smile blossomed in Kory's face, curling up her lips and lighting up even her eyes in a way Dick hadn't seen in weeks. The knot wrapped tightly in his chest loosened a bit, and he found himself giving a wan smile of his own. But just as the somberness in her green eyes started to wane, her lower lip trembled, and it all crumbled down in the blink of an eye.

His stomach dropped when she tore her gaze away from him. The harder she bit down on her lip, the more her eyes glistened. Dick couldn't make the air reach his lungs through the sudden lump clogging his throat, especially when a silent tear rolled down Kory's cheek.

"Kory," was the only thing he managed to utter past the tightness of his throat.

"I'm fine," she snuffled.

Her lower lip wasn't the only thing trembling any more. Dick draped his arms around her shivering frame without dwelling too much on the idea, practically out of instinct, to soothe the ache in his chest. And with Kory's shuddering body pressed against his, the coldness that had taken hold of in his ribcage thawed, if only just lightly. She had startled, at first, but in the next breath she was burying her face on the curve of Dick's neck.

His own eyes stinging, he wrapped his arms tighter around her, palms spreading on her shoulder blades, pulling her even closer. He didn't make a sound when Kory muffled a sob against his shoulder, he merely let one of his hands meander upwards to stroke her hair.

He knew shushing a _it'll be okay_ would be futile. For one, he hated the set-phrase, had hated it ever since his parents died. Besides, it had never come across as comforting in his life, no matter the other person's best intentions. There was one thing that did soothe the ache inside one's chest —so he kept hugging Kory. He didn't know how long they stood like that —Kory crying out whatever she couldn't voice, and him cradling her in his arms.

All the while he couldn't shake off the thought something was terribly wrong. But he didn't know how to bridge the gulf and get Kory to tell him about it. After all, he wasn't precisely an expert in sharing his own emotions. The fact it was now Kory, of all people, the one who was keeping hers caged in was like a punch in Dick's gut. He pressed a kiss to her hair and nuzzled her forehead.

Seeing her this _fragile_ was overwhelming. Fragile was definitely a characteristic he'd have never associated with Kory when they first met, it still felt oddly out of place —and his mind raced, day after day, trying to find a reason behind her unease, her worry, something that could explain her bent shoulders, the pain in her eyes. She was carrying a heavy burden and Dick hadn't been able to figure out what it was...

He wanted to carry that weight for her. Watching her hurting like this, shivering in his embrace, he wanted to fight whatever was plaguing her mind away from her. Just like he'd done with those bastards as the asylum.

He wanted to protect her.

A series of sniffles pulled him out of his thoughts. Kory pulled back, still fisting Dick's shirt, blinking away tears. He cupped her cheek and coaxed her to lift her chin, gently, with a brush of his thumb. He'd have kissed her then, kiss away her fears, but in turn feared all the racing emotions coursing through them may prompt them to wade around the subject. He stared at her instead, brushing his thumb along her cheek, hoping the gentle rub would chafe away some of the coldness of that burden.

"Kory," he whispered, bringing his hand from the back of her neck to cup her other cheek, "let me help you."

He saw new tears glistening and welling in her eyes.

"You told me once that nobody manages alone," he tried again, barely above a whisper, but his lips curled into a small smile.

That earned him a scoffed chuckle, and more silent tears meandering down her cheeks. She nodded, clamping and working her lips together. Dick pulled her in another hug, and caressing her back, this time he did shush comforting nonsense in her ear.

Kory felt silent, cupping her mug of tea a little too tightly. She didn't look up, and Dick suddenly feared he'd pushed too hard and too fast.

"You have us, Kory," he assured, reaching forward and wrapping his fingers around her wrist. "You don't have to do this alone."

There were hard lines on her face when she met his gaze.

"I can't _do that_ to you," she finally said, voice shuddering. "Too many people have suffered already because of me, too many people have —" _died_ , she trailed off. "I'd never be able to forgive myself if something happened to you all, to any of you," her voice nearly broke towards the end of that statement.

_Fierce, strong Kory._

_Vulnerable Kory._

"You'll not make us do anything, we'll be doing it because we want to," he rebuked, trailing down to cover her hand with his. There was no shred of doubt in his mind about it, the rest of the Titans wouldn't think twice before helping Kory, they'd face anything and any one head on for her. "We're Titans. We're a family. We look after each other, remember?"

He hoped she understood it'd always be their choice. He hoped she'd understood that, even though she'd lost her family, she had another here on Earth.

* * *

She wasn't alone. She didn't have to carry this burden on her own. The bomb had went off, but she hadn't thought about how the wounds the shrapnel opened would be nursed straight away. She should have seen it coming —she _wasn't_ alone. She should have seen him coming —we're going to face Kommand'r _together._

_"When I figure out who I am, and you figure out who you want to be... maybe we can—"_

_"Try it again some time?"_

A warm breeze tickled her forehead. A soothing heart-warming comfort spread through her chest, easing her lips into a smile. She huddled closer to Dick, the warmth from his body making her feel heavier and heavier. She let her eyelids slowly slid down —it wasn't long before she drifted into unconsciousness, cradled by the soft rocking of his breathing against her chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap-up! I hope you've all enjoyed the second chapter :) I wanted to explore this one through Dick's point of view, showing him worrying about and caring for Kory. I tried my best to tie it up with previous events from canon, because why not? Besides, like Anna said, the writers should have focused on the progression of Kory and Dick's relationship at some point during last season. Not gonna lie, I do hope we do get to see Kory being vulnerable next season, and the Titans (especially Dick), looking after her, for a change. Oooops... Apologies for the rant! n.nUu Hope you've enjoyed the read :) Feedback is always appreciated <3


End file.
